Harsha Bhogle’s fake kidnapping stunt goes wrong

The voice of Indian cricket, Harsha Bhogle, has apologised for his role in a bizarre stunt in which he faked his own kidnapping on live television.

Harsha Bhogle has spoken out after fans feared the popular cricket commentator had been kidnapped live on air.

In bizarre footage, the voice of Indian cricket was giving an Instagram live interview on MS Dhoni’s decision to quit as IPL captain when he mysteriously disappeared from screen and shouted out in distress.

As the camera went blurry and jolted, Bhogle could be heard calling out:

“Kya hua? Kaun hai? Kaha se aa gaye?”

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In English the cry for help translated to, “What happened? Who are you? Where did you come from?”

The host of the interview initially thought Bhogle had dropped his camera, before suddenly looking more alarmed as he told viewers they would check on the 60-year-old’s safety.

“Hello everyone. We are not sure about what happened. We are trying to get in touch with @bhogleharsh and his team,” tweeted the host from Sportwalk.

“We will update you guys as soon as we get some information!”

Harsha Bhogle has apologised for the bizarre stunt. Picture: Visionhaus/Getty Images

The tweet was later deleted.

The video soon went viral on social media sparking fear from fans about Bhogle’s safety.

But Bhogle – who has featured on Fox Cricket and ABC commentary in Australia for years – later took to Twitter himself to stress he was OK, although didn’t completely clarify what had happened.

It would seem the incident was an attempted prank gone wrong between Bhogle and Sportwalk, which the veteran commentator later regretted taking part in.

I am fine. Sorry to have got a lot of you worried. Thank you for the love and concern. It became more viral than I anticipated. That too is a learning. It was meant to lead to something else. Sorry. And cheers.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 24, 2022

“I am fine. Sorry to have got a lot of you worried. Thank you for the love and concern. It became more viral than I anticipated. That too is a learning. It was meant to lead to something else. Sorry. And cheers,” he tweeted.

The prank was out of character for Bhogle, although he is well known for being able to have a laugh.

In 2012 he was involved in a hilarious skit on ABC radio where he consumed a naga chilli live on air with Kerry O’Keeffe during commentary at the SCG.

He tweeted a second message to fans to try and explain the mysterious incident on Instagram live.

“You learn something new every day. It seemed a lighthearted thing to do but in its execution, it became something that I didn’t think it would. I am actually a bit embarrassed now,” he wrote in the second tweet.

Bhogle said he was touched by the care shown by fans over his wellbeing.